Tipo (Classic) My 95 Blue Tipo 1.4 workhorse

The main liners are easy to find. For the additional covers I've just checked Eper under Generator/then Battery/then Protection and it's there, vaguely recognisable as item no 2. For the other side it's around somewhere, probably under engine. Like I say I have just got both, years ago Fiat told me they were deleted NOT TRUE they lied they just didn't know where to look.

Thanks Jonti, I'll keep digging. Part of the problem is that Eper gets a bit distorted in my browser and some stupid adchoices popup keeps getting in the way.

I was correct about the idler bearing being the culprit for the noise... the garage diagnosed and changed it for free as a goodwill gesture but were adamant that it wouldn't have been thrown away.

The car should have a bit of a rest now work-wise and weather-wise, so I'll find a panel somewhere.

MOT at the end of the month, should be OK with maybe a minor weld. Fingers crossed..

no doubt a man of your persistence i.e. running a Tipo on the public road in 2016! will find the covers. Is the welding in-board of the sills?

Hi Jonti,

Yes I've figured it out thanks to you plus my diagnostic skills... there seem to be a few variants for different engine models which is a bit surprising, but I guess that allows the main arch liner to be generic and then just have a specific splash guard.

Cost seems to be listed as £22.91 plus about 9p for the 8mm bolt / screw! I'll call by Windsors Fiat later and try to order it.

Typically if I look for the same part for my 2001 Brava 1.2 it isn't in the generator => battery section (why would it be.. ?) so that requires a little more patience. Using a search of "protection" reveals nothing...

Welding is at the back of the LH sill just inside the wheelarch, it's been done before.

At least Eper displays better in Chrome rather than Internet Explorer.

Welding is at the back of the LH sill just inside the wheelarch, it's been done before...

Well after a bit of effort she's got another year's MOT, some fairly welding of a rear sill box and other check-ups and tweeks.

The biggest progress is sorting the roof water leak... It would get very bad after rain but depending on whether the car was pointing slightly up or downhill, after some investigation and dismantling I concluded that the front 2 drainholes / pipes in the sunroof frame were blocked, and must have been blocked for a long time. The sunroof had been sealed up years ago so when I opened it I saw that the mechanisms and frame corners at the front were well rusty, I cleaned them up, dried and de-rusted, then painted and tried to rod out the crud from the drain holes. That was partially successful with stiff electrical earth wire, but only went so far. Having researched the Brava / Bravo section I dropped the headlining and front pillar covers etc, to reveal the rubber downpipes that connect to the drain extensions on the hood frame. I found some stiffer metal wire and longer earth wire, and gave them agood rodding until they stuck somewhere, but couldn't locatewhere inderneath the car they were supposed to drain to (I assumed rto the rear of the wheelarches). I then managed to connect a garden hose to the top of the piller downpipes and gave them a squirt... hey presto and water eventually came out of the spout in the middle of the engine bulkhead. It seems that the screen / scuttle area and the sunroof pipes all share teh same channel at the top of the engine bay.

I'm now going to give the car a good clean and fit some stored interior panels etc that I've got in the attic.

If anyone needs reasonable blue / red check seats for a resto or repair job let me know and we can maybe do a deal. Pictures in my gallery...

Well I've been doing various jobs to get it running right and not leaking oil, but it's been a bit of a slog.

Had the sump oil seal changed, but was still getting 2 drip areas beneath the engine. Eventually traced them not to the sump but the top rocker cover gasket, so ordered a replacement from the local parts shop and fitted it. Of course it was selected with the notorious "what's your reg number?" method which is sloppy, lazy and always inaccurate for my car (late model with revised engine). The gasket was thinnish cardboard (BGA make ) instead of the correct squishy cork, and it leaked straight away (I didn't like the fit anyway). Got a refund from the supplier and went to another, again it was a "give me yiour reg" job but they got fairly quickly a decent branded cork gasket for less than a fiver.

So anyway I carefully fit it, tighten the 6 nuts evenly etc, run the engine and everything seems fine. Close up and drive the car around. Only trouble is that when I park (e.g. damp supermarket car park) there's a big oily rainbow patch beneath tha car. Check the engine and there's oil sprayed everywher.. bonnet, battery, gearbox.. Go home, clean it all up, nip up the gasket, test again. This time if I leave it running a couple of minutes, a leak starts weeping out of the front RH corner, down the cylinder head and onto the block.. Take it to my garage and have a close look, determine that it's probably the gasket between the cam block and the coilpack mounting block... right next to the rocker cover gasket.

So I go home, dismantle that bit and remove the gasket, and eventually my Fiat dealer identifies the part and supplies it after 4 days. I joyfully and carefully refit it, start the engine, and..... after 2 mins oil starts slowly weeping out at the exact same place! :bang:

Very careful examination with atorch reveals that it is slowly puffing out from the rocker gasket in the middle at the end, and also looking down the filler hole we can see a section of the gasket not trapped between the cover and the block. So we assume that the gasket had slipped, and needs gluing in place before reassembly. Carefully dismantle and clean the cover and gasket, go to stick the gasket to the slot in the cover with blue Hylomar, and deduce that it won't fit.. IT'S THE WRONG S0DD1NG GASKET!!

Yes once again I've fallen victim to the Fiat redesign that happened to the Tipo engine aroung 1995. The camshaft assembly was modified to acept a coilpack and the oil filler at the end of the rocker cover grew a sloping neck with a proper circular metal filler cap, and a a small "semi-hexagonal" extension to its rectangular shape. Consequently this 8mm extension doesn't get covered or sealed by the older rectangular gasket, so oil eventually overflows and makes its way out.

I then deduced that as usual I need to specify parts for a '95 Punto 1.6 and not a '94 Tipo 1.4 (The mid 90's modernisation was for the Puntos mainly) and so I ordered another gasket from Ebay. Unfortunately the lazy, clown supplier uses Hermes for delivery so despite ordering teh part on Saturday afternoon it didn't arrive till today at 9!!

Anyway it's all carefully fitted and tested now, and so far so good!

Moral of the story? Check parts carefully, don't assume that you've definitely done everything right, and take your time to analyse things logically and rationally!

Really can't believe that a minor oil leak could cause so much hassle!

PS I lost 1 1/2 litres of new oil along the way!

Well the car is still running nicely, had to replace a falled-off backbox with a straight pipe section for the MOT in the summer, it's got a nice fruity Italian rasp now! Not quite a 131 Rally Abarth but I think it makes a statement...

She's running on my 14" Brava alloys now with 185/60 Goodyear Vector all season tyres, give lots of confidence in these wet wintry conditions.



For comparison the standard steelies amd classic Fiat wheeltrims, and grotty old 175/65 14s.

I think I've found your splash guard / protection.

It is shown in the BATTERY 553 section on my LATER version 68 of ePER with P/N: 7610466 and cost £35.

On this site's version of ePER it is probably in the GENERATOR 553 section.

Current cost (Mar 2017) is now around £48 and is still orderable (makes a change for many parts for older Fiats)

The wheelarch splashguard was bought and fitted a while ago, ironically a few months ago I needed the alternator replacing (again...) and the reputable local garage I've recently used for some jobs even managed to "neglect" to refit it and left it in the corner of the workshop. Couldn't believe it, what is wrong with these people?

Anyway all good now fingers crossed, I stlll suspect a slight grinding from my recent exchange power steering pump but not too bothered ATM.

I'm still planning to give it a good cleanout and shampoo inside, and fit my stored spare interior. We'll see...

bluejohn125 said:

So anyway I carefully fit it, tighten the 6 nuts evenly etc, run the engine and everything seems fine.

Anyway it's all carefully fitted and tested now, and so far so good!

Click to expand...

When it happens again, try my guaranteed trick:
The rocker cover has 6 or 8 tabs that stop most of it from making a flush contact with the head and 'over squeezing' the gasket.
File them down about 50%, dry the gasket thoroughly, apply a light coat of gasket sealant to both surfaces and tighten down carefully.